buckythebadger wrote:Anyone having a difficult time finding the right balance between school/work/LSAT/social life?

I am getting better at the games not by much. I would like to get a 170, that is a reach score for me. I am aiming for a 164. I am finding myself only able to think about this stupid test, to the point that I think I should for a later date. It is tough and my school study is becoming a little much. Exercise and my children seem to help out with my becoming to burned out on this test.

I have been studying for LSAT for a few months, but do not want any less than 175. I took the December test and score 157 =( Either way I really want to get mid 170s at least and am even gunning for 180. I feel like if I put off until October I stand a real chance to see those kinds of gains. There are more supplemental books I am wanting to study right now after going through LGB and LRB a few times each. Such as ACE the LSAT logic games, and all of the Manhattan books. After I get through those then it will be pure practice tests.

I took the Feb 2011 LSAT and scored 170. I was PTing at average 173 for the last 10 PTs. The night before, I could not sleep well because of the flu and was feeling a little sick on the day of the test too. These are my last few PT scores. Should I retake in June? The problem is I studied for a year and did all 62 PTs, so do not have new material.

geverett wrote:I have been studying for LSAT for a few months, but do not want any less than 175. I took the December test and score 157 =( Either way I really want to get mid 170s at least and am even gunning for 180. I feel like if I put off until October I stand a real chance to see those kinds of gains. There are more supplemental books I am wanting to study right now after going through LGB and LRB a few times each. Such as ACE the LSAT logic games, and all of the Manhattan books. After I get through those then it will be pure practice tests.

Your December score changes things a little bit, but I still recommend studying as if you were writing June. If your PTs are not upper 170s then, think about waiting till October.

jim-green wrote:Should I retake in June? The problem is I studied for a year and did all 62 PTs, so do not have new material.

Sounds like it is entirely where your goals are. If you want HYS you'd be hard pressed not to retake. But if you're gunning for T14 and have >3.7 GPA I would think long and hard about it. I think you can find some good advice here about retaking 170: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=111748

Thanks, that link was very helpful. What is an ORM?My 1st section in Feb 2011 was exp LG and I spent the next 5 sections ruminating about questions I missed on it. May have affected Feb 2011 performance.

Well Spring Break just started here. Did not take long for our school to empty out. Unfortunately I had to stay behind and work a few days this week while everyone went home or to the beaches. Guess that means it is time for some serious LSAT prep; on a friday night and first night of spring break, it feels so wrong

I just found this group (I am somewhat new to the forum, anyway), and was glad to find that the comments are all really supportive! A lot of the comments posted elsewhere on this site seem awfully cynical/sarcastic, haha. Anyway, I have a question for those of you who have taken many practice tests:

I have taken a couple, so far, and am wondering what I should do when I review them? In particular, I am asking about the LR (my worst section, by far) and RC sections, but I'm not scoring perfectly on LG, either. What should I be looking for? Should I just go over the wrong ones and the ones I am unsure about, or should I review the entire test? Do any of you find it helpful to write notes in the margins that you read over again in your spare time?

Finally, I am looking for a pre-made spreadsheet, or something that I could plug my answers into that would analyze what I am getting wrong. I found an LSAT tracker on the Manhattan LSAT website, but those cover only the most recent PrepTests, and I haven't taken any of those, yet.

I just found this group (I am somewhat new to the forum, anyway), and was glad to find that the comments are all really supportive! A lot of the comments posted elsewhere on this site seem awfully cynical/sarcastic, haha. Anyway, I have a question for those of you who have taken many practice tests:

I have taken a couple, so far, and am wondering what I should do when I review them? In particular, I am asking about the LR (my worst section, by far) and RC sections, but I'm not scoring perfectly on LG, either. What should I be looking for? Should I just go over the wrong ones and the ones I am unsure about, or should I review the entire test? Do any of you find it helpful to write notes in the margins that you read over again in your spare time?

Finally, I am looking for a pre-made spreadsheet, or something that I could plug my answers into that would analyze what I am getting wrong. I found an LSAT tracker on the Manhattan LSAT website, but those cover only the most recent PrepTests, and I haven't taken any of those, yet.

Any advice would be much appreciated!

go over not just the wrong answers, but also the right ones. In the beginning, it's ok to review the whole test, but as you do dozens of PTs, you will notice your review time dwindle, partly because you know exactly why you got some right, so you'll end up concentrating on the wrong ones. I like writing next to the answer choice i get wrong why i got it wrong or what that answer choice really meant. Some ppl like writing summary paragraphs, so you can see if that works for you.

Do the dirty work now, because you want to take PTs more often as the time progresses, so be sure not to make the mistake (i made in the fall) of just taking PTs for the sake of taking them, expecting a miraculous boost in scores. Practice without a thorough review is worthless, and when repeated, may connote insanity (expecting a diff result while doing the same thing).

I just found this group (I am somewhat new to the forum, anyway), and was glad to find that the comments are all really supportive! A lot of the comments posted elsewhere on this site seem awfully cynical/sarcastic, haha. Anyway, I have a question for those of you who have taken many practice tests:

I have taken a couple, so far, and am wondering what I should do when I review them? In particular, I am asking about the LR (my worst section, by far) and RC sections, but I'm not scoring perfectly on LG, either. What should I be looking for? Should I just go over the wrong ones and the ones I am unsure about, or should I review the entire test? Do any of you find it helpful to write notes in the margins that you read over again in your spare time?

Finally, I am looking for a pre-made spreadsheet, or something that I could plug my answers into that would analyze what I am getting wrong. I found an LSAT tracker on the Manhattan LSAT website, but those cover only the most recent PrepTests, and I haven't taken any of those, yet.

This is, for me, the key to good review. What is it about the wrong answer I selected that makes it 100% wrong? What is it about the right answer that makes it 100% right? Most importantly, once I've discovered my error, do I make it frequently? (i.e., Do I not have a firm grasp of sufficient/necessary conditions?)

This approach also works for the questions I got right, but struggled with during the PT. What is it about the answer I was considering that made it attractive, and why is it definitely wrong?

Maybe this is a rookie tip that all of you already figured out, but I was trying to make a missed question bank by typing out all the LR questions that I've missed, and I was losing enthusiasm because I didn't want to sit here all night tapping these things in.

Then I remembered that we live in the future, and I used the Dragon speech-to-text app on my phone, and finished the whole thing in a fraction of the time that I'd already spent. I just read a question and answer choices in, e-mailed the result to myself, copy-pasted the result to a word doc, added letters for answer choices, and corrected minor errors in the text (punctuation, capitalization, etc.)

Glad to see this thread progressing. Really glad I started it. My study plans took an unexpected turn and I found myself only doing my first official PT today after work. Just finished about a half hour ago.

As of late I had really been concentrating on RC and LR in my preparation and it definitely showed in my performance. In the past, LG had been my strongest section but I dunno, I didnt feel really comfortable with that Exp. section and the last section basically reflected the confusion I felt in completing that section. I was just drawing blank with my setups and inferences. A likely 177 turned into a 168 in just that one section.

Glad the weekend's here. I decided to make copies of LG sections from 7 different early tests to drill this weekend. I plan on doing them back to back until I get absolutely sick of LG. Hopefully a better showing on PT 35 on Monday [as planned].

JG7773 wrote:Getting ready to take my 2nd PT. I have been studying for a few weeks so it is time to gauge the progress. I will be taking PT 46 (w/ exp. section) and I will post the results when I am done. . .

Good luck JG! I'm still holding off and trying to convince myself that OF COURSE studying has paid off and I've made significant improvement! Can't wait to read about that 175+!